The Concrete Institute of Australia has been promoting and developing excellence in concrete for over 50 years. In fact, going back to when the Institute formed in 1969, under the guise of the first President, William (Bill) Brown, through to today, the objectives of the CIA have remained essentially the same – fostering innovation, knowledge dissemination, and industry collaboration within the concrete research, technology, application, design, and construction sectors.
The Concrete Institute of Australia Medal was introduced in 2020 to honour those who established and nurtured the growth of the CIA since 1969. However, the creation of this honour not only adds emphasis to the Institute’s first 50 years of achievements, but it will also apply to current and future contributors, providing recognition to those who go way beyond what constitutes the awarding of a CIA Life Membership.
It was recognised that this award would initially be granted to a small group who contributed significantly to the formation, development and growth of the Institute over its first 50 years. In future years it is envisaged that the Concrete Institute of Australia medal will only be awarded in exceptional circumstances to those who also meet this criterion.
Following extensive research and discussion among the Golden Jubilee Steering Committee, and with approval from the National Council, the following 6 people were selected as the first recipients of the Concrete Institute of Australia medal:
Kevin Abrams
David Beal
Bill Brown
Kevin Cavanagh
Jim Forbes
Ian Orchard
Kevin Abrams
Kevin began his involvement with the Institute in 1985 when, as an employee of Cement and Concrete Australia (C&CA, now known as CCAA), he was made Secretary of the CIA NSW Branch. Kevin remained in this position on the NSW committee until he left C&CA in 1992, however he remained on the NSW committee as an Individual Member and became NSW President in 1997.
However, before his term as NSW Branch President he sought a position on National Council and was elected in 1993. He was then duly elected to the position of National Vice-President in 2001 when the unforeseen circumstance of the President elect, Dr Alan Carse, standing down before taking office, saw him elevated to National President.
He was Conference Secretary for the 1991 Biennial Conference in Sydney and Chairman of the Organising Committee for the 1999 Biennial Conference in Sydney.
Kevin also served as Convenor of the Membership Committee of National Council for some twelve years having a huge influence on the changes to membership benefits and activities to the Institute in its more progressive years.
One particular area that Kevin championed for nearly two decades was the Awards for Excellence in Concrete. As convenor of the Recognition of Excellence portfolio for well over 10 years he not only championed the Awards for Excellence but put an emphasis on adding prestige to the Institute’s Life & Honorary Memberships, and to the National Engineering Bursary (now known as the Concrete Research PhD Award). Through Kevin’s drive these have become recognised nationally, within the Institute, and through the industry.
Kevin had been a Councillor of the Institute for 26 years, and NSW committee member for 34 years, and continued to serve the Institute with the same passion and enthusiasm he had from day one until his untimely passing in 2021. He was entrusted with leading the CIA’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2020 before COVID got in the way. Kevin had a wonderful way of embracing our history with a view to the future, balancing experience with change, and bringing together the old with the new. There is no-one who embodied the essence of the Concrete Institute of Australia’s mission more than Kevin, and his legacy will continue with the introduction of the Kevin Abrams Medal to a CIA volunteer who displays this spirit in their work and commitment to the Institute.
David Beal
David first became involved with the Concrete Institute of Australia in 1976 as a member of the Queensland Branch of the Institute. He was one of an energetic, enthusiastic, effective and dedicated group with the Queensland Branch. They worked tirelessly planning and running extremely successful seminars and made great contributions to the Institute’s suite of technical publications. David has also served on a number of conference committees acting in various roles over 5 conferences. He later became President of the Queensland Branch from 1993-1995 and served on the committee continuously for 40 years.
In the late 1990s when David was elected National President of the Institute (1999 to 2001), he faced the challenge of arresting the declining financial reserves of the Institute. In his quiet and focussed manner, he methodically travelled around Australia and overseas to secure support for the Institute and to identify strategies to arrest the decline and set the Institute on an upward path. He invested his own time and funds to achieve the necessary outcomes to secure the future of the Institute. One of the strategies he introduced was the introduction of a new Corporate Membership structure, using the model adopted by the UK Concrete Society. This structure continues today and has been one of the most successful strategies to secure a reliable and ongoing source of income for the Institute.
Relatively quickly, the Institute’s focus, activities and financial security strengthened, setting the foundation for the impressive growth and development of the organisation through the early 2000s up to now. He was duly granted Life Membership of the Institute in 2003 in recognition of this work.
The Concrete Institute of Australia owes a huge debt to David in ensuring that the organisation was able to continue and to thrive, to become the Institute that it is today.
William Brown
William (Bill) Brown was a founding member of the Concrete Institute of Australia and was elected as the first National President in 1969.
However, prior to this, in 1967 Bill was appointed to a sub-committee by the Cement and Concrete Association (C&CA) that was tasked with investigating a proposal that recommended that the Australian Prestressed Concrete Group (APCG) widen its objects to include concrete construction generally. The sub-committee and the Council of the APCG examined two overseas models – the Concrete Society of the UK and the American Concrete Institute in the USA. Direct affiliation with either group was rejected and a draft constitution was drawn up which recognised that the strength of the new organisation would lie in its state branches. In 1968 the Council of the APCG resolved to adopt the proposal to merge and form an autonomous organisation, the Concrete Institute of Australia. In July 1969 Mr Bill Brown was duly elected the first National President and would preside over the Institute in its founding years.
Bill was elected as National President because he possessed the skills and fortitude to be actively involved in drawing up the Institute’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, progress the organisation to be recognised as a Company Limited by Guarantee, and to determine the strategic actions required to set up the organisation.
It was also due to Bill’s profile and personality that the Institute was able to position itself in the concrete construction industry immediately and be recognised as an important asset to individuals and companies. It was through Bill’s leadership that the Institute was born, and able to establish itself quickly to deliver on its objectives, which still stand to this day.
In recognition of his contribution to the establishment of Institute, and to the concrete industry in general, Bill Brown was made the first Honorary Member of the Concrete Institute of Australia in 1974 and his legacy lives on as the Institute continues to grow and prosper.
Kevin Cavanagh
Kevin Cavanagh was the Executive Director of the then Cement and Concrete Association (C&CA, now CCAA) from 1959 until his retirement in 1990. In 1963 Kevin was invited to become Secretary of the newly formed Australian Prestressed Concrete Group (APCG), a role he performed until 1970.
On 17 April 1970, Kevin Cavanagh and 14 other eminent members of the concrete industry signed a Memorandum of Association (MOA) to create the Concrete Institute of Australia (CIA). Through this MOA, the fledgeling CIA took over the APCG.
With the agreement of his C&CA board, Kevin provided the support necessary for the CIA to grow and flourish, a key element in this was the formation of CIA state branches in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia supported by the Regional (State) Managers of the C&CA as their secretary and event organiser.
Kevin was always understood the distinction between the CIA as a technical and professional association, compared to his company the C&CA which is an industry association, and through this had a great ability to manage the Institute and anticipating the needs of the members, which was instrumental in promoting, encouraging, fostering and developing concrete technology and practice, which has always been the principal objectives of the CIA.
He worked tirelessly over the years to successfully bring high-quality international conferences and symposia to Australia, principally through the FIP (Fédération Internationale de la Précontrainte) now known as fib (Fédération Internationale du béton). Between 1963 and 1990, the FIP held some of their symposia jointly with the APCG and later the CIA in Australia.
Over the years Kevin helped the CIA consolidate its the role in promoting and developing excellence in concrete research, technology application, design and construction. Significant developments included the Biennial Conferences which are the only major concrete conferences in Australia, the Awards for Excellence Program, and in collaboration with the C&CA, an extensive publishing program headed by a suite of Recommended Practices and Current Practice Notes.
Kevin was given the honour of having the Institute’s highest award for excellence named after him, the Kevin Cavanagh Medal (now the Kevin Cavanagh Trophy) introduced in 1991 in recognition of his valuable contribution to the success of the Institute. In fact, when Council proposed that the medal be named in his honour it was accepted unanimously, and without hesitation.
Jim Forbes
Jim began his involvement with the Institute as a committee member on the Victoria Branch in 1979. He quickly embraced the Concrete Institute of Australia and became Victoria Branch President in 1983. Following his term as Branch President he sought a position on National Council and was elected in 1985. Jim then went on to become National President in 1993. Jim contributed to the Institute tirelessly, challenging the industry to accept change, and improving the organisations strategic outlook, and he was awarded Life Membership in 1999.
However, it was on the international stage that Jim took the Institute to new heights. It was through Jim and his global vision that the Institute began to really develop relationships to similar international organisations. In his initial President’s column in Concrete in Australia he noted:
“We must welcome part of an international world of technology transfer rather than remain a technological fortress. And in doing so we must acknowledge the new role a technologically strong nation can play. We must foster and strengthen our relationship with FIP and the ACI and be prepared to accept their technology and share ours.”
It is with this vision in mind Jim began to engage with the international societies, in particular FIP (now fib) with whom he had a strong relationship (and would later become the first Australian to be President of this global group). Jim also ensured that the Concrete Institute of Australia was the first Affiliated International Society with ACI, providing us with a more formal link to their organisation. This agreement still exists today as an International Partner Agreement and the relationship could not be stronger.
Through Jim’s vision and enthusiasm, the Institute now has a global network, allowing the members access to a world of concrete. He was also an ambassador for the Awards for Excellence program, both at home and abroad. Because of this passion, local projects were shown on the world scale, resulting in the Scientia building at UNSW (2002) and the National Portrait Gallery (2010) winning Outstanding Concrete Structures awards with fib. In 1995 Jim brought the FIP conference to Australia, where it was held in conjunction with Concrete 95, and the fib 2018 Conference in Melbourne, hosted by the Institute, would not have occurred without his groundwork.
Jim’s focus and energy on international engagement and strategic positioning on a global scale has led to the Institute developing strategic relationships with fib, ACI, RILEM, ACF, JCI and many other international groups.
Ian Orchard
Ian Orchard was Technical Manager with Cement & Concrete Australia (C&CA), firstly in South Australia, and then in Queensland. Through this role Ian was an original member of the South Australia committee in 1969 before transferring to Queensland where he joined the state branch committee in 1971. In 1972 he took on the role as Secretary/ Treasurer for the Branch, a position he held up until 1999. He was a major driver of an energetic, enthusiastic, effective and dedicated group as he introduced good governance, policy and procedure to ensure the committee ran smoothly and effectively. They worked tirelessly planning and running extremely successful seminars and made great contributions to the Institute’s suite of technical publications.
During this time Ian was also asked to join National Council in the same role, and at the behest of National President, David Beal, in 1999 gave up the Queensland role to play a very large and significant part resuscitating the CIA during a time when it nearly failed. Ian served in this position as National Secretary/Treasurer for 10 years, retiring from the role in 2009. Over this time, he worked tirelessly on improving membership strategy, benefits, and opportunities to allow the Institute the freedom to stand on its own two feet and operate with financial security. Such was his contribution that he was made a Life Member of the CIA in 1997 whilst still serving on Council.
Ian remained a member of the Queensland committee right up until 2013 when he retired. He said at that time
“It has been my privilege to serve each of these committees and the National Council in executive roles for all of those years and while there have been ups and downs it has been a very rewarding journey made with some wonderful people.”
It is through Ian’s dedication and passion for the Institute, in how it should be administered through the right balance of good governance and process along with flexibility and a sense of fun, that the Queensland Branch quickly became the benchmark committee for Concrete Institute of Australia which is still the case today. This expertise was taken to Council in a time of need and over a 10 year period strengthened the way in which the Institute was, and continues, to be governed.